Super weekend of Flat racing in store at Naas As the season enters the final few weeks, the curtain will come down on Flat racing at Naas Racecourse for 2025 this weekend with two cracking days of racing in store. The two-day meeting will see 15 races down for decision and over €500,000 in prize money on offer with the RFL Steels Stakes and the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Birdcatcher Premier Nursery featuring today, while on Sunday the Irish EBF Auction Series Race Final and the Colm White Bookmakers Beggar’s End Handicap are the highlights. The second and third-placed horses from last year’s renewal of the RFL Steels Stakes (3.50) are bidding to go slightly better on this occasion as Jack Davison’s Thunderbear and local favourite Big Gossey for Charles O’Brien feature amongst the 11 runners. A field of 14 will line up for the €50,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Birdcatcher Premier Nursery (3.10) including course and distance winners First Approach for Aidan O'Brien and the Michael O’Callaghan-trained duo of Fresh Fade and Luna Mia. Fresh from her Group 1 exploits in France last weekend, Jessica Harrington’s sole representative in Sunday’s feature is Pierre Grosse as the Kildare-based trainer looks to win the Irish EBF Auction Series Race Final (2.35) for a third time in four years following Fiona MacCoul last year and Panic Alarm in 2022. Noel Meade won the 2021 renewal with Lady Of Inishfree and has an ideal candidate for this weekend in the form of Madbadanddangerous who opened his account at Naas last month. It could be a big afternoon for the eight-time champion jumps trainer as Meade's Zoffman and Group 1 winner Helvic Dream are part of a maximum field of 20 for the Colm White Bookmaker Beggar’s End Handicap over two miles. The 2023 Cheltenham bumper winner A Dream To Share represents John and Thomas Kiely while Comfort Zone bids to repeat last year's success for Joseph O'Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle. The veteran Lord Erskine is another notable participant and will be running in Sunday’s staying contest for a fourth time. The Harry Rogers-trained 12-year-old earned €50,000 at the end of last month when finishing second in the Lartigue Hurdle at the Listowel Harvest Festival and then fourth in the Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh just a couple of days later. Lord Erskine first ran in the race as a four-year-old and missed out as a reserve in the 2022 running of the race before he finished ninth in 2023 and tenth in 2024. Rogers said of his stable star: "He is headed for Sunday all going well. He came out of his last run well again, not a bother on him. "Basically, he's a hard enough horse to keep fit but he thrives on his work and for some reason, the last few years, he's been more consistent than ever. He has no problems, that's the thing with him. "He's even running very well now when he doesn't get his (soft) ground. It's amazing. "He's never had any luck in the race so hopefully he gets it on Sunday and we could be there."
